“I love you.”
Three simple words. What comes to your mind when you hear them?
Does it mean, “I want to kiss you”?
Does it mean, “I want to spend my life with you”?
Does it mean, “I want to sleep with you”?
Or does it simply mean, “You matter to me”?
What exactly does “I love you” mean? Have you ever stopped to think about it?
I began asking myself another question. How many times did I say “I love you” last month? More importantly, how many times did I actually know what I meant when I said it? Sometimes we say words because they are expected.
“Good morning.”
“Take care.”
“See you soon.”
Most of these are social greetings. We don’t expect every word to carry deep meaning. But “I love you” feels different. Or at least, it should.
Yet I wonder if we sometimes use “I love you” because it is easier than saying what we truly mean. Maybe what we really mean is:
“I miss you.”
“I’m grateful for you.”
“I admire you.”
“I want to be close to you.”
“I don’t want to lose you.”
“I want to build a future with you.”
Love becomes a shortcut for many different feelings. And when one word tries to carry too many meanings, it slowly begins to lose its own.
This isn’t only about love. It’s about language. How often do we speak without first asking ourselves,
“What do I actually mean?”
Perhaps communication doesn’t begin with choosing better words. Perhaps it begins with understanding our own meaning before we speak. That reminds me of an old piece of advice:
“Mean what you say, and say what you mean.”
Simple, but maybe much harder than it sounds.
TK
